


Lions and Loose Lips

by chiaroscuroverse



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Prison, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4772636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chiaroscuroverse/pseuds/chiaroscuroverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A planet, a jail cell, a little medicine, a little alien physiology. Rose has a rough day, the Doctor can make her feel better, but there are unintended side-effects for both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rose Tyler was staring down a lion.

All right, probably not a lion, the color was all wrong and she was a long way from Earth, but awfully close, huge and hairy, and she felt a very low vibration that might just be a pre-attack growl.

“Ok…don’t run from big cats if they’re close enough to pounce,” Rose recited, barely out loud, “maintain eye contact, wave hands…” She gingerly pulled her arms out of her jacket and began to wave it back and forth above her head. The lion’s eyes didn’t leave hers while she backed away slowly, heart in her throat. It didn’t pounce.

She took several more steps backwards and was about to turn and run when her foot suddenly stepped off into nothing.

*****

Much later, Rose plodded down a dank hallway, led with chained hands by the humanoids she’d surrendered to. She could hear the Doctor from the end of the hall, calling out to the guard. “I’m happy to stay the night, but I must insist that your people find my companion. She can’t have gone far. Pink jacket, yellow hair, about so high.”

At the door the alien unshackled her and shoved her unceremoniously through, commenting, “No pink.” 

“Ah, fantastic!” said the Doctor, grinning and catching her straight into a bear hug. She clung to his neck and took a shuddering breath. He pulled back and took a good look at her. “Well, you’re a right mess. It’s been hours! What happened to you?”

Rose narrowed her eyes, pulling leaves from her hair. “I was on the way to, um, rescue you, and, well-”

“No need! Just a little misunderstanding, but we have to wait and see the magistrate in the morning.” He waved at the room. “Just, oh–“ he cocked his head, “seven hours, fifteen minutes, then back to the Tardis and we’re off again! Unless we want to take a different route and actually see—“

“Doctor!” He was entirely too jolly and she was in no mood.

“What’s wrong?”

“The last time I saw you,” she said slowly, “one of those soldiers had knocked you down with the butt of a gun. He said he was taking you to a firing squad.”

“Empty bluster. Here I stand!”

Her voice rose, “Doctor, he knocked you out! I didn’t even think that was possible!”

“Haven’t you ever heard of playing possum? I saw he was itching to show off for his squad, so I thought my best bet was to give him a win. Anyway, where did you get off to?”

“Forget it.” Rose took a deep breath and sank down against the concrete wall. She was guarding her right side and he frowned as he seemed to notice for the first time. “It’s just been a really long day. I need the Tardis and a hot bath. Come on then, sonic us up a jailbreak. ‘M really done with this planet.”

“Can’t. No sonic.”

Rose tried very hard not to wail at this. “Are you serious, Doctor?” She looked around the jail cell, noting the distinct lack of anywhere to sleep.

The Doctor remained frustratingly cheerful. “Not our finest accommodations, but could have been worse. There’s food and running water, spout in the wall anyway. Something of a loo. And it’s been weeks since we landed in jail. Thought we were losing our touch! I had the rotten luck to be holding the sonic when they knocked me out.”

“Thought you weren’t knocked out.”

He shrugged.

Rose dropped her head onto her knees. She was cold and hurt all over and her throat tightened painfully. She did NOT want to cry. This was far from the worst situation they’d ever been in, but she was being hit with a powerful combination of pain, exhaustion, and relief. They had landed right after breakfast and spent most of the daylight hours touring before the incident. That soldier bloke may have been full of it, but Rose had been convinced, watching from behind some trees, that the Doctor was in serious danger. And then she’d spent the last hours in increasing despair that she wouldn’t find him and they’d both never leave this planet. 

She felt the Doctor kneel in front in her. He touched her hair. “Rose. Everything’s fine. Take a drink, get some rest, and we’ll be on our way before you know it.”

She opened her eyes to find him holding a cup full of water. She gulped it down, dribbling a bit on her shirt, then took a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall, eyes closing again. She willed her voice not to quaver. “Rest where? There’s not even a cot. Or a blanket.”

The Doctor heaved a sigh and sat down against the wall next to her. She could imagine his eyes rolling. He tapped her shoulder. “Come on then. Up you get.”

She raised her head. He was holding out his arms and indicating his lap. Her eyes widened. “What? Really?”

“Can’t very well have you whinging all night,” he said, but his voice was gentle and there was a little something in his eyes she couldn’t quite place.

The universe had clearly decided to make it up to her. She nodded and climbed carefully onto his lap, shivering as she rested her head on his jumper and slid her arms around him under his coat.

“Watch your bony arse,” he said, grabbing her to shift her a little to the side.

She couldn’t help but giggle, “I’m feeling better already. You’re not ‘specially warm, though.”

“Oi! Give me a minute, will you? Got a little trick.” He circled her with his arms and pulled her tightly against him. She tried to hold it back, but a hiss escaped her.

“What’s that then?” He pushed her to sit up. “You’re hurt. I thought so.” He reached for the hem of her shirt. “May I?”

Rose nodded and he gently lifted the side of her thin t-shirt. A large bruise was forming on her ribs.

“Oh, Rose,” he said, “and me with no sonic. I’m so sorry.”

“S’ok. Not broken, I don’t think.”

“How did this happen?”

She made a sound that was half-laugh, half-cry. “Well, ok, it started with when I had to run from this lion thing-“

“Never run from a lion, Rose!”

“Shut it – I know. I was backing away from a lion and, well, fell down a hill. It was a big hill. And I hit a couple rocks along the way. And lost my jacket.”

Eyebrows furrowed, he walked his fingers up her ribs, feeling around each one. It was just a hair past gentle, and she was getting a little distracted by warm fuzzies that seemed to follow his fingers in spite of the ache of the bruise.

“No broken ribs,” he said, “In the morning we can fix you right up, but I’m afraid you’ll be sore tonight. Anything else?” He squeezed a path down to her ankle and back up again. She knew he was feeling for more injuries, but his touch was sending pleasurable eddies up her body. As the last squeeze tingled a nerve behind her knee, Rose let out a gasp.

He stopped, hand locked around her knee. “What is it? Hurt here?”

“No, just, um, tickled a little. Bruised, maybe, but s’fine, really.” She turned her flushed face away from him.

“Hang on, I’ve got something to take the edge off.” He fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a small tin of white pills. “Dissolve that on your tongue.”

She did it without hesitation. It fizzled in a strangely cool way in her mouth and throat.

“All right, I’m glad there’s nothing serious.” His arms came back to circle around her, laying her back against him gently this time. “You know, if you wouldn’t wander off, we’d always be taken together.”

Normally these were a tad bit fighting words, but she wasn’t playing that game now. She just inhaled deeply and enjoyed the pleasant buzz spreading to her extremities. Might as well just cut to the chase: “Were you worried about me?” She closed her eyes and enjoyed the staccato rhythm of his hearts while he took a long moment to answer.

“What I thought,” he finally started, “is that you’re clever enough not to panic and to remember everything you’ve learned and find your way to me. And that maybe you were just hanging back and following. Nothing too dangerous out there, or so I thought. A lion, Rose, really?”

“Dunno. It looked like a lion. But it’s not, like, tropical around here. Maybe it doesn’t work like that. Got pretty cold when the sun went down.”

“Feeling a little warmer now?” he asked, leaning back to give her a bit of a smug smile.

“Yeah, yeah I am, actually. Have you done that on purpose?”

“Superior biology, me.”

She snuggled back into his chest. “Mmm, I take back anytime I ever laughed at your ‘superior biology’,” she said, imitating his voice. “Because this? Is amazin’. Felt like I’d be never be warm again.”

He laid his chin over the top of her head and was quiet for a minute. “You’re getting a mite too warm,” he said in a teasing voice. “Might have to boot you to the corner in a minute.”

“Nooo, Doctor, you wouldn’t!” She responded in kind, gripping him tighter. “I promise I’ll be the best companion ever! I’ll bring you bananas and never wander off.”

“Now I know you’re lyin’, Miss Jeopardy Friendly.”

“I promise! You wouldn’t make me go. Feels too good. Feels gorgeous. Gorgeous, you’re gorgeous…” She trailed off, realizing she had tilted her head back and was looked at his amused face. Shit. She was a little too relaxed and loose-lipped, apparently. “Um, what was I saying?”

“You’re lucky I don’t have my sonic or I’d be recording this for posterity.”

“Am I drugged?”

“Just a pain pill, Rose, though looks like it may have made you a little loopy. Better stop talking now before you propose to me.”

She hit him on the shoulder, without much conviction, and flopped back against his chest. “You’re enjoying this!”

“Might be.” The rumbling chuckle in his chest felt divine. “I get so few joys in this life – if Rose Tyler gets delirious enough to think this old face is handsome, I’ll not put a stop to it.”

“You’re lucky you’re the only warm thing in this room,” she said to his jumper. “Just you wait. The next time YOU get some alien truth serum, there’s gonna be some changes around here. I’ll be getting to the bottom of a lot of things. My voice is weird. Is it always like that?”

“Your voice is fine.” He hugged her tighter. “How’s your pain?”

“Mmm, I don’t feel it at all anymore. I feel good. Think I’ll live here.”

“That’s more like it.”

She settled in and drifted, not sure how long, lulled by his breaths and his heartsbeats. But after a while her hand started moving up. She could feel herself doing it before she started. Couldn’t stop. Well, didn’t want to stop. She leaned her head back again to look up and slid her free hand up to cross his stubbled cheek and sweep into his hair. She swooshed his hair back and forth, enjoying the whisking feeling of the soft strands across her palm. He might possibly have shivered. Did he shiver? He was looking at her, but her eyes focused on the hairs standing back up after passing by her hand. Fascinating. Her hand slid lower, drifted lightly behind his ear.

He shuddered. Definitely. He reached up and caught her wrist. “Rose.”

“I mean it, you know.”

“Shush, Rose.” But his voice was soft.

“I do. I think you’re gorgeous.”

He brought her hand to his chest and pulled her head back under his chin. “Sleep now.”

“You don’t want me to say it.”

“I want you to get some rest. I want to get us back home.”

“Is that all you want, Doctor?” 

“Oh, Rose.” He sighed. “I want a lot of things.”

“Me too.”

“Sleep now, before your medicine wears off. I’ve got you.”

She relented. Relaxed further against him and drifted away.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor _had_ been worried about her.

Each passing minute had been a calculation of the risk to Rose versus the likelihood of having to hurt someone to get out of this place. And he really didn’t want to hurt anyone. But these taciturn aliens had been unresponsive to all his attempts to reason his way out. They didn’t know how close they came. He did have quite a bit of confidence in her, but she was only human.

And then she was walking in, disheveled, bare skin covered in dirt and scraps of leaves, and so very here. And he’d wanted to laugh hysterically, because she was fine, and she was _here_ , and he could throw his arms around her to hide how amused he was by her face being the most adorable combination of cross and exhausted. He had impulsively offered himself as a place to sleep without considering the repercussions until he’d already said it. But, no matter, it was for her. The least he could do for all that he regularly put her through. He’d felt a more than a little guilty when he realized she was actually hurt.

He held her now, softness and warmth and the occasional snore. The bare skin of her arms and shoulders had been clammy and cold, even for him, when she first put her arms under his coat, but now she was the typical human furnace. There was a thin layer of sweat building up where her body rested against his. He was even on the verge of sweating. Him! He could rightly begin to relax his own blood flow now that she’d recovered.

But he didn’t.

Opening every capillary and revving his metabolic rate made his nerves sensitive in a way he hadn’t experienced in a long time. This body certainly never had. (He distantly reflected on his last self before the relentless numbing of war, then shook it off.) The frisson of energy flowing out of his fingertips was almost tangible as he lightly stroked one hand through her hair, avoiding the buzzing temptation of her temples. He was going to be ravenous tomorrow. His skin was awake and aware (he knew he was avoiding the word aroused). Quite simply, it felt too good to let go. Showing off again, and he’s the one caught in the trap. Guess he’ll never learn. He spread his awareness across every point of contact, reveled in the weight of her body pressing into his thighs, squeezed her hip with his other hand, and wished that leather wasn’t shielding his arms from her.

A significant downside was that while the Doctor could normally be impervious to discomfort, the hard floor was getting impossible to ignore. He began to wish he was holding her somewhere else, like her soft bed in the Tardis. He would be on his side, head on a pillow, her body pulled snugly against his. He’d tuck her head under his chin, wrap an arm tightly around her waist. Maybe throw a leg over hers for maximum comfort. That would work. A sheet would be all they needed, let her body heat surround them. Then maybe his hand could rest on her bare skin, under a vest like the one she had on now. Smell her hair, a little less dusty than now. She would reach up and stroke her hand across his hair again, and—

Bollocks. He opened his eyes upon realizing that his body was coming to life in another way. This right here was going to cross the line from defensible indulgence to taking advantage. Time to move and disguise. He sat up, lifting Rose with him and pushing her bum further down his lap, and shook his coat off his shoulders. She protested sleepily. He flipped the coat around her shoulders.  

She stirred and opened her eyes, smiled at him. “What time is it?”

“You’ve been sleeping 2 hours and 36 minutes.”

She hummed and closed her eyes again. He pondered how to relax again without revealing himself, but then she sat up and stretched. His jacket fell from her shoulders. “Thirsty.” She scrambled off his lap and located the cup and spigot and gulped one cup, then another. He pointed to the tray, but she was already heading there to tear a hunk off the bread and exclaim that it wasn’t so bad.

The Doctor just watched her from his place on the floor, legs splayed out, quickly cooling in the air of the cell and tingling with the leftover impression of her body. He should stand up, walk, shake it off, redirect some things, get himself back under control, but he could only gape at her.

She swallowed her last bite, noticed. “What?”

He felt bereft and…exposed. The light was low enough that hopefully she couldn’t see his flush and the stubborn bulge in his trousers. Shake it off. He pulled his coat toward himself. Casual, hopefully. Shifting into serious-Doctor voice, “Nothing. How are you feeling?”

“Well, sore, but better than when I got here for sure.”

“I should hope so,” he said lightly.

“You know, I always thought if I got done in out here it would be more... alien death ray and less getting my face chewed off by a wild animal. Water?” She walked back over with the cup and he took it with a thankful smile. She was still moving a little carefully, but didn’t seem to be hiding pain.

“Sometimes I think if I really cared about you,” he said, wiping his mouth, “I’d take you home straight away.”

She actually laughed. “Don’t even try that. Ridiculous. You need me.”

If she only knew. “Do you need more medicine?” he asked.

“You’re just hoping for more flattery, aren’t you?” She grinned, her full tongue-touched radiance, and he grinned back, feeling his tension dissipate.

“I would never!”

“It’s still working, I think. Don’t feel buzzed anymore, though, that’s a shame. I’ll be ok until we get back. That was a lovely nap. Besides, I can’t give up all my secrets in one night. Save them for a party or something.” And she winked at him.

The smile on his face had to be his dopiest ever.

And then with natural ease, she lifted his coat and slid back onto his lap with a pleased sigh and began to settle to his chest.

He must have stiffened, because she looked up. “Oh, um, is this ok? I just assumed--”

“Yes, of course, let me just--” he adjusted them both, finally satisfied with his redirected blood flow. He still couldn’t bring himself to slow his metabolism, justifying that Rose would get cold again if he did, and studiously avoiding more selfish reasons. She was back where she belonged and he just wanted her to stay. She snuggled in with the coat around her shoulders again and he expected her to close her eyes, but she didn’t.

“You look so different without your coat on.”

He looked down and quirked his brow. “How’s that?”

“Um, like more human or something.”

“Good to know. I’ll be very careful about taking it off.”

She laughed. “I guess I’m just special then.”

He dragged a thumb across her cheekbone and smiled. “Rose Tyler. Guess you are.” He took a deep breath. “Before…you said--.” He stopped, unsure of how to find out what he wanted to know.

She groaned. “Oh, God, I said a lot of things.”

“You said one day I would get an alien truth serum. You thought that’s what you’d taken?”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him speculatively for a moment. “Ok, so what you really want to know is if I was saying true things.”

What was he doing? He shrugged and it felt exaggerated and false. “I dunno. Just hoped you didn’t think I would do that on purpose.”

“Of course not.” Her smile got more teasing. “Ok, Doctor, I’ll tell you, but you have to tell _me_ a truth first. Can’t imagine what’s got you in this talking mood.”

“It’s the heat—" he said suddenly, surprising himself.

She looked puzzled.

“Mitochondria raising my cell temperature, relaxing arterioles, increasing blood flow to surface of my skin. You should hear how my hearts sound from the inside--”

“Your trick,” she interrupted, ‘’makes you talky?”

He looked away for a breath. “Makes me enjoy this.” Looked back at her, needing to gauge her reaction. “Maybe too much.”

She sat up slowly. Her eyes were gigantic. “By ‘ _this’_ you mean…?”

“Holdin’ you.” In for a penny. “Touching you.”

She continued to look stunned.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I felt like I should tell you. It’s a sort of, side-effect. If you want to move, I understand, you have the coat—“

“No. I don’t want to move.” She swallowed. “And by ‘ _enjoy’_ you mean…”

He looked quickly away, cheeks flooding now. Time Lord dignity a farce he should have known could crumble in an instant.

“Oh.”

He let out a nervous chuckle. “Guess you’re not used to seeing me with a red face.”

She laid a finger on his chin, turned him back toward her, smiling widely again. “That’s not as rare as you think.” She blew out a breath, stirring her hair. “Blimey. Well, I did ask, didn’t I?” She laughed a little, actually seeming pleased now, until he could see a new thought hit her. “But I should be asking _you_ \--you’re doing all this for me, after all. You don’t have to if it’s, you know, too weird. Do you want to move?”

She had asked him what he wanted--before, when she’d thought she couldn’t help but speak the truth. And his truth was that he’d wanted to grip his fist tightly in her hair and pull. He’d wanted to bite her bare shoulder. He’d wanted to kiss her. He’d wanted to move his fingers over her temples and find salvation. And he knew too well how wrong it all was, but the longer he sat here with blood pounding through his veins and her taste in the air, the less he cared.

“I want to stay right here. If you do.”

Her heart rate and respiration had accelerated. The air was flooded with pheromones. He’d learned long ago to tune out the hormonal mess that was humanity, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight.

“You can probably guess what I want,” she said, bringing her head closer to his, nearly whispering. “I feel like I can never hide anything from you with all your--your spidey senses. You _know_ , don’t you?”

“Maybe I know,” he said, closing his eyes, “or maybe I’m an old fool.”

She leaned her forehead on his and he inhaled sharply. She couldn’t understand this, and that was his fault. He tamped his barriers and concentrated on her words.

“You’re not a fool.”

His hands cupped her face. “Rose, tell me you don’t want me—“

“Kiss me, Doctor.”

He kissed her. The softest press of lips. And then she made a sound that would end him, and he slanted her head and went back for more, opening to grab her lips between his, swipe them with the tip of his tongue. Losing time sense. Losing this place. Losing everything was wasn’t her mouth and her sounds and her hands running up his neck and into his hair. He pulled away to kiss down her jaw and was thrilled to feel her gasp for breath. Back to relish her lips some more. Timelines were dancing but he refused to look. And then he felt something under his thumb that made him pull away.

A tear. “Rose, what?”

She shook her head, bit her lip. “I just—I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Is it okay?” He hugged her to him.

“Yes, just ignore that, I’m a little overcome,” laughing a little over the last word.

He was giddy. “Fantastic! More?”

She giggled and nodded. He decided to try for the softest, slowest kisses he could, wondering if she would follow his lead or attack him. After another minute, he had an even better idea, if he could bring himself to release her.

“Genius, me,” he muttered, tapping her back, “Jump up. Wanna try something.”

He spread the coat out, then lay next to it, back to the wall. He patted the coat. She took her place, then looked up at him a bit nervously. “You look a little wicked, you know.”

He pulled her in, arranging her in accordance with his earlier fantasy. “I feel a little wicked.”

“Not complaining, mind, but um, what are you…thinkin’ of?”

Ah. He smiled, gently. “I want to make you as comfortable as you can get.” He nuzzled the side of her face. “It’s no Tardis bedroom, but we can pull this side up around you and I’ll stay warm for you over here. And—I was hoping to snog you some more if you’re amenable.” Smirk. “And then you can sleep until it’s time to leave.”

Her face was sunshine. “Well, all right.” There was that tongue again. He made plans to bite it. “I dunno how I’m supposed to sleep ever again. You can probably hear my heartbeat.”

“I predict you will be sleeping before 27 minutes is up.”

“So smug.”

“I know my sleepy Rose Tyler.”

“But what happens when you’re not keeping hot anymore? Is all this gonna disappear while I’m sleeping?”

He leaned over and smoothed back her hair. “Wouldn’t be much point. Now we both know.”

 “You can start snogging me anytime.”

“Your wish is my command.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems I didn't have this tagged romance before, silly me. That'll probably go without saying for anything I write. :)


End file.
